Sai Newsletter, October 2001

Excerpts from Swami Interview

Fwd from: Bharathi Kasturi

This message comes from a YA (Sangeeta Lekhi) who was a member of a group that went to Puttaparthi with Hal
Honig in Aug. 2001. This group received three interviews with Swami, and these questions & answers were from those interviews.

Questions and Answers with Sai

1.Swami: How many types of teachers?
- One who Complains
- One who Explains
- One who Inspires

2.Devotee: How to develop Faith?
It happens like this:
- First Confidence, then Love, then Peace, Truth,
Divinity, then God
Devotee: How to develop confidence?
- Believe that God is inside you

3.Devotee: How to kill the ego?
- Look inside, see me in conscience, not physical eye,
but inner I

4.Devotee: How to quiet the mind?
- That's easy, just stop your thoughts!
Devotee: Then how to stop our thoughts?
- Work more, think less

5.Swami: What is happiness?
- It is "union" with God

6.Swami: What is meditation?
- Devotee: Concentrating on God
- Swami: No, Concentration is below the senses,
Meditation is going beyond the senses

7.Devotee: I meditate on Your form, Swami
- Swami: No, no forms. All forms are temporary, even
this form

8.Devotee: How to clear misunderstandings?
- When there is misunderstanding, explain that this is
not so

9.Devotee: Swami, how to improve your center in NYC?
Members come and go.
- I have no center, it is here (pointing at His heart)

10.Devotee: Swami, how to dedicate one's life in
serving You?
- Dedicating is a bad word, who are you dedicating to?
You are God. How can you dedicate yourself to
yourself?
- Just do work

11.Swami: What is the way to immortality?
- Removal of immorality is the way to immortality

12.Devotee: How to surrender?
- You don't have control over your mind, you don't
have control over your body; so, what can you
surrender?
- First control the senses, then surrender

13.Devotee: About marriage?
- If you like someone and the parents approve, then
marry. Otherwise, no 'friendships' - they waste time,
don't waste time

14.Devotee: Swami, how to carry You at all times?
- Repeat to yourself, "I am I" (SOHUM)

15.Devotee: What type of service should we do?
- Serve the poor, elderly, diseased
- Don't give money to the poor, they drink alcohol,
and come home and fight
- Give food to the hungry, and clothe the poor
- Any type of service that is from the heart, I bless

16.Devotee: Swami, please give a message.
- I'm not giving any more message, My Life is My
Message!

17.Devotee: Swami, can we take you back with us?
- I am always ready (holding out His hand)
- I am always here (pointing to His heart)

18.Swami: What is my message?
- Devotee: Love
- Swami: LOVE ALL, SERVE ALL!

Swami's Words
- To do service, you don't need grace, you need desire
- Computer, calculator, TV - not good, waste of time.
Mind is the best computer
- Anger is the nature of a dog. When you are angry,
repeat, "I am not a dog, I am Man."
- Do not give money to friends, it breaks
relationships
- Don't waste money, time, energy, food
- With the right heart, even doing housework is
service
- First be, then do, then say
- All work is Sai work

Excerpts from Miami Retreat

From : Rema

Dear Sai family,
SaiRam! I was fortunate to participate in the South-East Regional Sai conference that was held in Miami from Oct 5-7. It was a very spiritually elevating weekend, with several excellent speakers, LIKE our National education Coordinator Berniece Mead, Service coordinator Hal Honig, Dr.Hose Gomez, former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India, Honorable Justice P.N.Bhagawati and ex students from Swami's college. Provided below is this retreat as described by one of our young adults Dr.Srikanth Sola.

"Sai Ram. Several of us were fortunate enough to attend the Southeast Regional Sai Conference in Miami this past weekend, where we enjoyed a joyful, divine retreat filled with Swami’s love and grace. I would like to share with you
some of my personal notes from the conference so that you may also benefis from what we experienced. Although it is not possible to relate everything that happened, I hope that this gives you a feeling of the wonderful satsang we all shared.
Bernice Mead spoke to us about Swami’s definition of MAN, which He says stands for:

M – overcoming Maya
A – experience the vision of the Atma
N – attain Nirvana

She reminded us that it is not necessary to tell people about God or that He is here on Earth. Instead, she said, let them
see the God in you. She encouraged us repeatedly to remember that,

“I am God. I am God. Know it. Experience it.”

The Honorable Justice P.N. Bhagavati, former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India, took time from his busy
schedule to speak with us. He related how, as a small child, he would go out into the open and cry for the Lord in the
form of Krishna. Years later, Swami came to his home in 1959. Justice Bhagavati came to the airport to greet Swami,
and on seeing His divine form for the first time, Justice Bhagavati knew that his Krishna had come. He recalled Swami’s
visit and noted that loved poured out from Him to everyone around. On another occasion Justice Bhagavati was speaking
to Swami and was overcome by emotion. Swami told him not to give in to emotion – rather, strive for devotion, which is
much better than emotion.

Several of Swami’s former students were at the conference, and hearing them talk made us feel as if we were once a part
of Swami’s schools and colleges. Srikanth Vaidyanathan described how Swam would coach the students in public speaking, and how He would have them practice their talks multiple times in front of Him until He was satisfied. He shared one experience during which Swami had come to one of the Institute’s schools to inaugurate a new solar powered
hot water heater. Swami was to open the tap from the heater, after which hot water would pour out into a container
below. Unfortunately, when Swami opened the tap hot water sprayed everywhere, drenching the front of Swami’s gown.
Everyone was horrified, but what could they do? Swami just laughed and said, “Not only did I inaugurate the hot water
heater, but I also took the first shower.”

Another student, S. Kumar, talked about the different stages that a student went through during his time with Swami, and
described how Swami would coach him in his singing. Swami told him that when singing in public, one should sing with the proper tune and rhythm, as well as with true feeling. Sai Subramaniam gave a PowerPoint presentation featuring many of his cherished photos with Swami, and talked about how Swami would spend so much of His time and energy on His students. He always insisted on the best for them – e.g.He would purchase the best musical instruments for them to use, or make sure they had the best food to eat and the best costumes for their plays. When traveling Swami would take care of every preparation for his boys, down to the smallest detail. Sai showed us a photo of Swami holding the ring of Sri Rama, a huge diamond and gold ring that King Janaka had given to Sri Rama at the time of His wedding to Sita. He also showed a
photo of Swami holding a large hair brush, for which Swami joked, “See how big My comb is? You people are so lucky - you can comb your hair with only a small comb.”

On Saturday evening, several YA’s and former college boys gave a wonderful music program featuring many of Swami’s
favorite songs. One could feel Swami’s divine presence during the program, and we all felt as if were in Prashanti Nilayam
itself.

Hal Honig spoke with us about the recent events in NY, his recent trip to Puttaparthi, and about the YA’s in general. With regards to the troubled times in which we live, Hal spoke about how we unfortunately live in a culture that celebrates
violence. He quoted statistics from a gun control group that described the number of deaths due to handguns in various
countries for a given year (1997, I believe): 2 in New Zealand, 15 in Japan, approx. 100 in Canada, and over 9,300 in
the USA. This violence, he said, is seen everywhere in our society – in our media, our television, our recreation, and
internet.

During one of his recent interviews, a mother of a 7 year old child complained to Swami that her son was watching too much TV. Swami told her, “That is your fault,” emphasizing our responsibility to ourselves and our children. Hal repeated Swami’s recent quote in his message to Dr. Goldstein about the recent NYC tragedy, and related another quote from Swami in which He says, “Be bold. So bold that you are determined to bare out any calamity that may assail you. When you have God installed in your heart, who can deter you?” Hal’s interviews with Swami, which took place before the NYC tragedy, took place at a time when Swami is withdrawing from the public eye and asking His devotees to find Him within.
Still, Swami spent a lot of a time answering spiritual questions and giving specific instructions to His devotees. Some of the questions and answers from those interview sessions were:

- How do you develop self confidence? “Believe that God is within you.”
- How do you quieten the mind? “That’s easy. Just stop your thoughts…. Work
more, think less.” Hal said that our we
have to be very careful with our thoughts, as they determine what we
experience in life.
- One devotee asked about surrendering to Swami. Swami replied that he (the devotee) did not even have control over
the mind or the senses. First, control the senses, then you can think about surrender. During an earlier interview Swami
had asked, “What is surrender?” to which He gave the answer, “Surrender is seeing oneness.”
- What is youth? “Youth is determination.” Determination for what? “Determination to control the senses.”
- What type of service should we do? Swami said serve the poor, the elderly, and the diseased.

Finally, when asked what were the qualities of the best YA groups, Hal said:
1) commitment – a commitment to Swami and His teachings, to the YA group, and to service;
2) the members of such groups enjoy what they are doing.

Let us use the blessings and energy we received from this conference to intensify and expand our work for Swami.

Jai Sai Ram.

Sai Experience

From : Udayakumar

Thought of sharing another experience I had, to throw light on the TRUTH that Swamy is omnipresent, omnipotent and omniscient as well as Swamy's compassion for everyone. Will try to be as brief as possible.

The Planetarium at Prasanthi Nilayam was under construction and the firm in Delhi, India for which I was working at that time, received the order for Acoustic Treatment on the inner surface of the Planetarium. The firms Senior Construction Manager who has actually desigend and fabricated the machine for such an application along with the machine and
labourers were sent to carry out the job as it was to be completed within a short period of seven days so that Swamy can Inaugurate the Planetarium on His Birthday.

After two days received a message from the site that the machine would not work. As the General Manager Technical of the firm, and as my Managing Director knew that I am a Sai Devotee, I was deputed to do the needful. Flew from Delhi to Bangalore, took a car and reached Prasanthi Nilayam almost 15 mins prior to the usual evening Dharshan time. Went directly to the site (though I knew that it is Dharshan time), considering the fact that the work has to be finished in five days time. Struggled till 2AM next morning but the machine would not work at all.

Next day when the Construction Manager went to the site around 6AM I told him that I will have Dharshan and then reach the site. HIS Grace, got a place in the front row. ( Those days Kulwant Hall was not there and the devotees sat in the open in front of the Mandir and Swamy stayed inside the Mandir). Swamy came out for Dharshan, went on the ladies side, went inside the Mandir, went again to the ladies side. After three such visits to the ladies side, he came straingt to
the place where I was seated and started talking to the person next to me for more than five minutes without even looking at me. When HE was about to turn away,

I went on my knees and said " Swamy, I have come for Auditorium work ". Swamy turned to face me and said " Very happy ". I said " Swamy, the machine is not working ". Swamy immediately said " Oh, I was waiting for you here yesterday evening and you went staright to the work. Still the machine is not working ? Very bad ".

Realising that with HIS Pure Love Swamy has corrected my ego " I am the person to set right the machine" even while being at The Lords Abode, I went in to silence. Swamy then created Vibuthi, applied it on my forehead Himself and said " Don't worry. I have set it alright. Work will be over well in time and you all will be rewarded " and walked away. Some thing made me look in to my watch and it was 8:23AM. Later when I reached the site the Construction Manager confirmed the fact that the machine started working exactly at 8:20AM though none of them could make out how it happened.

After starting the work and satisfying ourselves that everything is fine, self and the Construction Manager came out of the Planetarium and sat on the culvert and started talking about Swamy's Leelas. Suddenly we heard some thing crashing down and before we could react, Swamy's car braked in front of us. Swamy put down the window glass, called the Construction Manager by name ( wonder of wonders ) and said " you people are enjoying the sunshine and Swamy had to save all your labourers ". Before we could even have a wink Swamy's car drove away.

We then ran inside the Planetarium to see that the whole scaffolding has come down with the eight labourers who were working at a height of almost 13 metres and ....... not a single one of them had even a scratch !! Next day onwards, the entire team first went for Dharshan and then for work. And the entire work got over well in time.

On the eve of Swamy's Birthday, the entire team,including the labourers, was given passes to attend the Inauguration of the Planetarium by Swamy next day. And I got a seat just behind where Swamy sat, and the Construction Manager and the labourers were next to me.

Though I was in total bliss, thinking the way Swamy Has rewarded us, the Construction Manager was repeatedly asking what the "reward" would be. Swamy came, and after the Inaugration and the very first show, Swamy turned His head back and told my collegue " Past Karmas of your entire team has brought all of you together today here to be seated close to the Lord of All the Planets you have just seen, and the entire Universe. Any other reward ? ".

Can any one ask for any other reward than His Grace and Love ?

"Sai Messages for You and Me: volume IV" by Lucas Ralli

Fwd : Kesselman

My child, wait, be patient, and see how the picture unfolds. Do not jump to hasty conclusions. All is not well, that is true and worse is to come. But it is part of a plan, and one day the calm will return; balance and unity will be restored.

Karma, karma, karma so many past ones, have to be worked out according to the laws of nature. The seeds are there, deep in the ground, and they will sprout at the appropriate time. Once the seeds of past karma are planted, what follows is inevitable. This is what you are experiencing now, and have done during all these recent years.

All of you give too much importance to events of the moment. In ten years' time, it will all seem like nothing more than a bad dream. Many of the players will have disappeared. So prepare yourselves and your lives for the future. Live in the present but do not get attached to it, or to the events of the moment. Observe them and let them pass.

Love with God and in the presence of God. Concentrate your thoughts on Him, not on the traumas of the moment. Traumas come and go, just like the waves of the ocean. But God goes on for ever and never changes. God is always
pure love, pure light and is always there, everywhere, the light of the universe. Live in the radiance of that light and do not get caught up in the clouds of illusion, whether it be the organisation or politics. Let others live in the clouds, if the wish, a life of their own choice and creation.

"The Divine Presence of Sai Baba is, without a doubt, the most important occurrence in the cosmos for thousands of years, and I am happy to have sacrificed my entire career, my reputation, and my life itself, in this cause. This event induces me to express even more strongly the feeling of gratitude that I have towards my parents, whom now I am able to see once more, and whom the Divine Compassion was pleased to spare the great pain of seeing their son, the priest,
rejected and condemned by that same institution which had welcomed him as its minister. What that human condemnation took away from me was infinitely less than what I gained - by knowing Sai Baba, and by consecrating all my energies to Him. I am saddened by the thought that some people may have suffered because of my faith, and I humbly beg forgiveness of all those who may have been scandalised by my words or by my actions.

"But, my dear brothers who are reading this - if you have not yet understood the immense value of that which is glittering before you, make haste to discover it, for the time of the Avatar is limited, and once the chance is lost, it will be lost for all time.

"My meeting with the Divine Personage of Sai Baba has signified for me the synthesis of all Truth contained in all Holy Writings of all religions. Do not think that I have lost my faith in Jesus, and my love of Him; right now I love Him more than ever, as I love the Buddha, Krishna, Ramakrishna, Ramana Maharshi, and so many others - and naturally, above all, Sai Baba. Those who have condemned me as faithless have failed to understand that my life's work has not been to be faithful to one religion rather than to another, but to be faithful to the unique Force which is transmitted by all religions: the truth of Love.